My two working GSD's are 2 years and 6 months. My 2 year old works wonderfully on a prong, and only wears it WHILE working, making it an understanding that when the prong collar is on, she is on her best behavior and doing her job (she is a certified SD). My 6 month old though, I'm having some trouble finding the right thing for. She started with a flat collar, and when she became old enough and started pulling and such, we switched her to a prong, as that's what I've been using and have been successful with. While working though, she has control of her head even on the prong and is distracted by EVERYTHING. Because of this, I thought to switch her to a gentle leader so I had more head control. She absolutely HATES it, to the point of just shutting down on the ground laying down to protest it. I have had no luck with her on just a flat collar either, and I do not believe in using chokes. She is ball and food driven, though we usually work with treats in public (SD in training). Any suggestions on new things to try, or methods to get her used to either focusing while wearing the prong or not hating the gentle leader?

I think this isn't an equipment issue. A prong should be fine. teach a focus command indoors and work up to outdoors using the ball or food as a reward. Ask for super short commands for now.

ex: if your dog can focus for 2 minutes inside before a reward, i'd reward after like 20 seconds outside and work up. 6 months is young. Mine didn't start getting more focused til later

i gave up on the gentle leader. Hated that. I tossed it in a box the time my dog saw me pull it out and hid under the kitchen table. not worth it to make my dog miserable

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Lara To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. (12/14/2012) CGC

Alright, I'll try this. She has a decent focus. About a minute and a half if the treat is right. She is difficult to get her vest on sometimes too though. I think because its so warm out where I am. She is amazingly smart though and leaned most of everything she knows on the prong. Thanks.

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